NEOS 8 Ch PCAOM Crystal cleaning question.

[Vidal Wolf]

Hey guys. Its been a while.
I have a technical question. I have a couple 10 watt NEOS PCAOM crystals that need to be cleaned.
One of the outer housing windows fell off in storage and there's dust on the input face.
What do I use to clean the faces? I'm nervous to even attempt to start touching the crystal itself because of the bonding wires and since the Tellerium Dioxide crystal itself is hygroscopic, I'm assuming normal methods of cleaning are a no go.
Thanks,
-Nate.

[kecked]

Freon in ultrasounic bath. MAke sure it's dry freon. This will degrease anything.

[Vidal Wolf]

R-12 specifically?
Is this how you did it?

[krazer]

Since the crystal is coated you can safely clean it with traditional optics cleaning methods. I am not sure of NEOS has an official cleaning procedure, but Gooch and Housego has a procedure at the end of their manuals. For example see this pdf https://www.goochandhousego.com/wp-c...1/51A0500D.pdf which suggests to use acetone and a folded lens tissue held in hemostats.

[kecked]

R-12 specifically?
Is this how you did it?

Any freon liquid will work. Hard to get these days. Might try dry cleaning fluid. Spectroscopic quality acetone will work. Idea is an inert solvent that removes oils. Might try dried ethanol. Make sure it's all dry as the crystal will be ruined if you let water on it. If you can use freon it is most inert, dry, and dries leaving no residual. I'm a little unsure of the ethanol and acetone as there could be plastics in there to be damaged. I know freon is good.

[dsli_jon]

Hey Nate -

First, sorry, but...

Any freon liquid will work. ...Spectroscopic quality acetone will work. ...

...NO, and yes (in that order..) krazer has got it correct.. (iirc, G&H bought up Neos, so... Yes, One and the same, relative to 'OEM recommended' procedures..) I would Not use Freon, and not because - maybe, chemically, it might work well as a 'de-greaser', but - because you cannot be 100% sure that a 'store-bought grade' was 100% free of Any other contaminants or lubricants or (???) that might actually worsen the film on yer xtal, or possibly even damage the coating..

..Sorry, but.. IF freon was the 'way to go', believe me, I am quite sure this Industry - with all the years cleaning sensitive optics, like PCAOM xtals and KTP-faces, and Ion HRs and OCs, themselves - would already well-Know that / would be 'common knowledge' / procedure.. My .02 / experience / training all far-more supports 'Spectro grade' Meth and/or Acetone.. Start with the Me and finish with Acetone, just make Sure you use ONLY the 'Kodak (or equiv. brand / quality..) Lens Tissue', there, and Spectro-grade liquids.. I'd hit up Karl (laserwizardry) in AZ, there, since he sells Excellent quality, small-quantity bottles, for a reasonable cost (vs buying a whole 1L flask from a Lab-house..)

..For the dust, if it's Really 'caked', you can - Carefully, so as to Not get any of the liquid propellant on it / the bond wires - use a good, 'electronics grade' air-can - VERY light amount of air, to 'dust' it, first.. And, Don't 'shake' / wave the can - Use one of those 'snorkels' they usually come with, and while holding it in one hand / triggering with yer middle finger, use your pointer to quickly 'flex-wave' the nozzle / stream of air, back/forth over the surface of the xtal - that way, you're not 'blowing full-blast directly at it, and the 'eddies' created by grazing back/forth over it / the sides, should dislodge Some of the dust..

..then you can 'flood mop' the surface - put the tissue on it / dropper a couple full drops to 'saturate' yer little 'blanky', there, and gently 'drag' the tissue off the surface.. You can repeat this a couple times on a CLEAN area of the tissue, and, finally, follow-up with an acetone 'folded pad' in hemostats wipe, for the final clean.. Believe me, I've cleaned a LOT of those pups, and the coatings on those Are tougher than you think - Just, for sure - keep away from those bond wires, since yah, they Are super delicate (another reason to use VERY little / LOW-pressure air, if that's even needed..)

..Worst case, I will be more than happy to clean them for ya, for the low, low cost of postage.

Hope that helps..
cheers..
j

[kecked]

Yes I was saying the kind of freon doesn't matter but the purity is another thing. Mine is triple distilled and dried for the purpose. This was the standard for a long time until the ozone hole issue. Always gave me the best result without damaging coatings and electronics as it is inert. Acetone is not inert but usually safe. True though getting the pure stuff anymore is difficult and spec grade acetone is easy to get.







QUOTE=dsli_jon;335054]Hey Nate -

First, sorry, but...



...NO, and yes (in that order..) krazer has got it correct.. (iirc, G&H bought up Neos, so... Yes, One and the same, relative to 'OEM recommended' procedures..) I would Not use Freon, and not because - maybe, chemically, it might work well as a 'de-greaser', but - because you cannot be 100% sure that a 'store-bought grade' was 100% free of Any other contaminants or lubricants or (???) that might actually worsen the film on yer xtal, or possibly even damage the coating..

..Sorry, but.. IF freon was the 'way to go', believe me, I am quite sure this Industry - with all the years cleaning sensitive optics, like PCAOM xtals and KTP-faces, and Ion HRs and OCs, themselves - would already well-Know that / would be 'common knowledge' / procedure.. My .02 / experience / training all far-more supports 'Spectro grade' Meth and/or Acetone.. Start with the Me and finish with Acetone, just make Sure you use ONLY the 'Kodak (or equiv. brand / quality..) Lens Tissue', there, and Spectro-grade liquids.. I'd hit up Karl (laserwizardry) in AZ, there, since he sells Excellent quality, small-quantity bottles, for a reasonable cost (vs buying a whole 1L flask from a Lab-house..)

..For the dust, if it's Really 'caked', you can - Carefully, so as to Not get any of the liquid propellant on it / the bond wires - use a good, 'electronics grade' air-can - VERY light amount of air, to 'dust' it, first.. And, Don't 'shake' / wave the can - Use one of those 'snorkels' they usually come with, and while holding it in one hand / triggering with yer middle finger, use your pointer to quickly 'flex-wave' the nozzle / stream of air, back/forth over the surface of the xtal - that way, you're not 'blowing full-blast directly at it, and the 'eddies' created by grazing back/forth over it / the sides, should dislodge Some of the dust..

..then you can 'flood mop' the surface - put the tissue on it / dropper a couple full drops to 'saturate' yer little 'blanky', there, and gently 'drag' the tissue off the surface.. You can repeat this a couple times on a CLEAN area of the tissue, and, finally, follow-up with an acetone 'folded pad' in hemostats wipe, for the final clean.. Believe me, I've cleaned a LOT of those pups, and the coatings on those Are tougher than you think - Just, for sure - keep away from those bond wires, since yah, they Are super delicate (another reason to use VERY little / LOW-pressure air, if that's even needed..)

..Worst case, I will be more than happy to clean them for ya, for the low, low cost of postage.

Hope that helps..
cheers..
j[/QUOTE]

[kecked]

http://infohouse.p2ric.org/ref/16/15139.htm
https://dcc.ligo.org/public/0088/E12...dure-v2%20.pdf
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyNET.exe/...kPage=x&ZyPURL

It was very common

[dsli_jon]

...It was very common

..Maybe for Optics manufacturing, or assembly line clean-up, but.. Show me One ref / Op-manual, etc, from either NEOS, G&H, or Any of the Ion manuf's (SP, Coh, etc..) where they suggested / proposed Freon - at all - let alone over Sp-grade Me and Acetone, and I'll happily stand corrected.. I've never been taught / heard of using that, especially for AO-xtals, and sensitive Ion optics, ie: the HR / OC and/or Brewsters..

..Not trying to pick a fight / saying it cannot be used, just, again, that for Nate's situ, I'd personally strongly recommend Sp-grade Me / Ac solution, not freon, especially since he said his primary contaminant was Dust, not 'grease'.. In such a case, a more 'aqueous', yet non-water based, solution would be My top choice, anyway...

..For Electronics / PCB cleaning / generic-degreasing, yes, that stuff is magik..

Fwiw..
j

[kecked]

For him yea sure. For me I got the magic juice. Works great.
Ps: not a fight. Not worth it. Just different method. Both work well.

good dry acetone is just as good. IF it is good dry acetone. Not the junk from the hardware store. I use drying beads even on a new bottle.

I got that from ILT when I went to visit them in salt lake. Wonder drug for Brewster windows cuz it doesn't leave a residue or pit the glass or loosen the glue. Still didn't help as my cathode had sagged.
Its used after acid to get the metal off as a rinse. In retro prolly shouldn't have suggested it to someone unfamiliar with it. It really is great stuff for sensitive crystals for fingerprints and organics because it is so inert. For dust anything works that dries without leaving a film behind so long as it is not water based.
no better way to clean a salt crystal for example. Freon 113. Not r12. My bottle is twenty years old and getting low. When it's gone it's gone for good.

Be well all my friend. Late here. Good nite.

M

..Maybe for Optics manufacturing, or assembly line clean-up, but.. Show me One ref / Op-manual, etc, from either NEOS, G&H, or Any of the Ion manuf's (SP, Coh, etc..) where they suggested / proposed Freon - at all - let alone over Sp-grade Me and Acetone, and I'll happily stand corrected.. I've never been taught / heard of using that, especially for AO-xtals, and sensitive Ion optics, ie: the HR / OC and/or Brewsters..

..Not trying to pick a fight / saying it cannot be used, just, again, that for Nate's situ, I'd personally strongly recommend Sp-grade Me / Ac solution, not freon, especially since he said his primary contaminant was Dust, not 'grease'.. In such a case, a more 'aqueous', yet non-water based, solution would be My top choice, anyway...

..For Electronics / PCB cleaning / generic-degreasing, yes, that stuff is magik..

Fwiw..
j